Star Wars
Casablanca
Gone With The Wind
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Empire Strikes Back
It's A Wonderful Life
E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial
The Wizard of Oz
Jaws
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
The Sound of Music
Fargo
Grease
Singin' In The Rain
Dances With Wolves
The Princess Bride
Top Gun
West Side Story
Field of Dreams
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Jurassic Park
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
The Maltese Falcon
Ben-Hur
Back to the Future
Rocky
Dead Poets Society
The Lion King
The Breakfast Club
Toy Story

Obviously there are oodles of lists available just a Google away by searching for "100 best movies". A good place to start is AFI's 100 lists.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Something new today! :-) Every morning that I don't post a prompt, I'll post a phrase you can use to write for 5-10 minutes.

You can:

use it for a focused free write: begin with the topic and let the words flow from you continuously without pause, disregarding spelling, grammar, drift from topic. Even if your brain stalls and you need to write "I can't think what to write" over and over. Keep doing that until a new thought comes.

use it to spark a scene with your current characters. Likely it won't generate anything you can plop into your story, but see where your characters go with it. They're likely to give you some new insights into who they are.

come up with a scenario then use the prompt to drive it.

let the prompt inspire the scenario and run with it.

use it for whatever you want!

To use your time most efficiently, try Dr. Wicked's Write or Die. Use the default settings (normal and strict). Set the length of time. Click Write!

In the interest of full disclosure, these are all song titles. I make no claim to toiling my brain over a new phrase each day ;-) I wanted something with an emotional ring to it but was easy and quick. Hopefully you'll quickly forget I mentioned they're song titles. My tastes range from Metallica to Rory Gallagher so it's unlikely anyone has a similar collection on their iPod ;-)

They're all speculative fiction friendly. Some, like titles from Judas Priest and Rob Zombie, pretty much can't be anything else!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

I was maybe in my teens when I suddenly realized that suitcase actually came from suit and case. It struck me as outrageously funny that I hadn't realized something so obvious before! ;-)

For each of the following compound words substitute synonyms for its component words. You can shoot for the same meaning or be more freeform and see what happens. You may come up with a word that means the opposite. :-)

So, if the word were beachcomber you might change it to shoresearcher or shorebrusher or oceansidegroomer or coastdetangler.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Your character is visiting a foreign land and speaks just a few words of the native language (and some they may not pronounce correctly or only think they know). The person they're trying to talk to speaks just a few words of your character's language.

Write the ensuing scene. They may be working in the foreign land (and their interpreter hasn't shown up). Or trying to get somewhere. Or buying something in a store, ordering in a restaurant. Trying to arrange a wedding or a coup.

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

"Before every point at the United States Open, the server will turn to a ball person and request a ball. Or two. Or three, maybe four. ... It is a long-held tennis ritual, the choosing of the balls, a process built at least as much in superstition as in science. ... Whether there is truly an appreciable difference is debatable, but the process of choosing the ball offers glimpses into the psyche of the players. ... Andy Roddick ... sometimes looks at several balls resting on his racket, like a chef holding an omelet pan, looking for the sleekest one that might go an extra mile per hour. ... If nothing else, the few seconds it takes to choose a ball can buy players time to exhale from the previous point and focus on the next."

Describe someone choosing in a ritualized manner. Life is in the details and glimpses into the rituals a character uses to soothe himself can bring the character to life.

It can be arrows for a battle. Ingredients for a spell on one they hold a grudge against. Paper and pen for a letter. Outfit for a speech. Salvaged parts to repair a robot. Ax for an execution. Eggs for the queen's omelet. (The details may reveal more about the cook than her need to create something perfect for the queen. Or maybe she hates the queen but still needs to turn out a perfect omelet to keep her job and continue with her plot.)

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Thursday, September 03, 2009

"Oxfam killed my bookshop!" The brouhaha began after The Salisbury Journal called on Marc Harrison, 42, a ponytailed former Roman Catholic priest who, until this summer when he could no longer pay his mortgage, ran the [second-hand bookshop] Ellwood Books on Winchester Street, a modest commercial strip just beyond the center of town.

The ponytailed ex-Catholic priest caught my attention first, but there are several surprising elements that seem begging for a story. Treat it as a slice of quirky life or throw in international terrorist plots if you wish. England makes me think of Doctor Who so maybe Oxfam is really some alien cover! :-)